Optical training device to increase reading speed



March 3,l 1959 T. B. SHARKEY Filed July 29, 1957 TBSHMPVKF-T OPTICAL TRAINING DEVICE TO INCREASE REAIDING SPEED FIG-3 FIG 6 INVENTOR.

THOMAS B. SHARKEY ATTORNEYS FIG -4 United States Patent() t Thli'invsarlfesi@Maria f particularly to arroptical' tr ni device-providing for,y

'2,875,530 PatentedfMari 3, 195e? ice Wall being attached to the `body ofthefcbinet e by means of screws l13:. The front wall 12, in the apei"`" tured portion,` contains a screen 15 which may be con`-` structed of frosted glass or anyothersimilar semi-opaque or translucent material. l The screen- 15`- is held within' a recess 16` and retained in positionrby:ineans-` of faciiigi strip.17.

Generally thefuse of the present4 device,` `aswell ase that of related person atesitlhy-flhimse'lf and s econdwliere' 'an` instructor operajt slthe"4 device for a: student:y The 1*agi-f e 'instructor to t able to afrelatively small screen fand where theinstructo viewing {ofchangeable character nuage` groupings for 1 predetermined timed intervals. i

Existing `optical tranirig `devices such as itimedlreadings tachistisco tain disadvan au re n ipleysomeare socomplex` incorist'ructonian rationlthat theireducationalvalue` isr'educed. 'Intother the indicia or characters are `fixed on slides, permitting fthe ;us'erfor s'tl'ldent` to memorize, `i ,ltherf consciously or unconscic nisly,` the" f 4sequences on the `vari s slidesi i l principal objectof" pres ntinventionfisto* pro-` vide an optical straining device \"'of. siti-"riale,l economical construction providing greatidiversity inf the character Another object o f this invention ist providef'a optical training `device having an `opera ng multaneously changing all offtli ,ch a gioupirig to present a new `'groupi selectedcharacters;

An additional object of i `wishes tolgive individual attention' to aparticular student. `11n other situations" the device .will b`e" used only `b`y` the,

student orV vievv'er,` `:for` example,` Whenit isdes'iredt view `yariou' groupsfof characters for short` time perio' adinfgspeed andretentive ability. Altho' gh"- a `regalata 'studentlwill normally begin by'usin ny smal ber of` characters, `the liumberkused; aridi telective Width of the students:

increases overa period of' tiniewas he words or] phrases of`4 greateflength; an `the inventionl anoptical training" device in which theicharacteis naal@` f ing` u p a grouping canbe individually" selected upon disengagement of the mechanism which normally effects f changes `inall the characters simultaneously;

It is `also `an object of this invention topovide an optical training device inl which character viewing carriers are `provided for useby`an` operator in" thosecases where. an operator is present. Other objects andadvntages of` this invention willbe from the follow' "g 'desciiption,` "the"` accompany- Figi His` a sectional view taken" along the line 4-'4 o'fFig. 3, tlielighting means being shownschematically; FigJ'SHis 'an' enlarged axial view of a character carriei` plate'arid the" driving gear carried" on itsI supporting'A shaft; aridl Figti6"i`s"a` fragmentary View` of one end ofthe` carrie`^operator"` bar""showing` a drivingslenoid positioned theeon'. i Thdrawing illustrates a preferred embodimentof the invention wherein the entire operating mechanism is assembled into an integral unit rather than requiring use `of `separatedr'or separable components,` such as is the case where characters are flashed by means of a proiecfor` 119011 a Separata viewiasicrsal- The] Press???- `#mais 'caiseslwithin a liassinw; 9a. Het 10 harms arcticn wall 11" and ari apertued front Wall 12,the rear choice. carrierrnaybe varied as desired, and may for exarxiplei 20? are supported 'atftheioter ends by"`the` rear W l 11 of ncsusisgfioaaa athen inner-eindsyby upstxdi 'gg l ,Supports zigwhich afefatfched te afhsnrontiiyjegfen ing b asep'late22`.` Anrinner carri. lat'eZSrisattac adjacent the'inner edgof of screws *26, a similar screwsf any" other `acceptable" means? such as a *spline connection canas-readily bevused,"A `:'Thustheii1nier"plates p 25 `arid the outer platesl] ektendfparllelto*theiwide' dimension ,Of'housing 10,``n`d`,the1shafts `20 eXfend through, l the housing `Wall 11 `at rightanglestoVtlieplans` coni' tainingthe various platesb p EachV inner carrier 25 contains'fa plurality-offspaced charactefbearing inserts 29`Whichare constructed 'e material possessingdifferentiallight transmitting qualities` in order that they may be transillumiated `to cast p acter images onthefscr'eeir15.` The bodyofeach inserti maywbe opaque and the character-` transparent orgthe" i reverse situation may `be present with the characterbeing"opaque and thelbody" of' the iriselrftransparentQ-tlie particulary combination used beingrprifriarily amatteroii Additionally, thel numberiof characters on"`ea`ch include all letters of the alphabet on each carriei'ad the specific showing in Fig. 5 is` merely illustrative of one such arrangement.` The outercarriers 27!'have `cl1`z`u`*'"` acters corresponding to` and axially: aligned with the characters borne by the inserts rrriounted on" the first group of carrier Aplates 25 so that in vthose instances where an instructor is operating theldevice, he can`de` i termine `the character 4grcaiprig which vwill appear" o`1"1" screen 15 for viewing'` by the student.`

, Due to thefact, as previously mentioned, that students tend to `memorize characters or sequences which are u-` changing, it` is advantageous in some situations that enf tirely different andunpredictable` lgroupings be producedV for viewing. `The present device makes possiblevthe obtainment of an almost infinite number of combinations by securingv a geert-30 to `each of thel shafts `for engage ment `with an elongatedroperator -bar 35 extending the Complete*widthOfithusiiigifllic TheFbari'isslid'ably f devices; can be placedr intoV two" broad" classifications" lth'e'lfirstwhere itI is used by 'only' one* I supported within guide I36 at one end of the housing and Within a bushing 37 at the other end of the housing and has rack portions 38 spaced throughout its length for engagement with the gears v30. The number of teeth on the racks may vary'from gear to gear'so that 'reciprocating movement of bar 35 will result in varying amounts of rotation of each of the shafts 20.

. Bar 35 can be reciprocated manually by pushing knob 40 toward the side of cabinet 10, the rack portions then turning the shafts and-becoming completely disengaged from gears 30 so that the carriers may rotate freely.

Upon release of knob 40 coil .spring 41 will move the operator bar 35 toward its original position, and racks 38 vwill reengage gears 30 to stop further rotation of inserts. The mirrors are secured to the rear walls 1'1` v by means of a small bracket 47, and the lamps mounted immediately in front of the mirrors so that the light will be reected toward the screen 15. A condensing lens 50 and a projecting lens 51 are mounted on either side of each of the interior carriers 25 to direct the light through the uppermost insert 29 andonto screen 15.

To increase the users or students rate of visual perception-as well as t'o improve his retentive ability, it has been found desirable to present images of the various characters on screen 15 for varying time intervals, for

example from one second to IAOOO of a second, the rate chosen depending upon the particular person and the del grec to which he has advanced through use ofthe apparatus. Thus through continued usage of the apparatus it is possible to decrease the time necessary to recognizeand retain knowledge of the various groupings of characters, as well as to increase the number of characters comprising a given group. ,Io achieve presentation of the characters for predetermined time intervals, a shutter 55, which moves vertically between the inner carriers 25 and the projecting lens 51, is used to control the passage of light from lamps 46 to the screen for the desired time interval. The shutter 55 contains a plurality of openings 56 corresponding in size to the openings in carriers 25 holding character inserts 29, the amount of time the given image will be seen depends upon the time required for openings 56 to traverse the uppermost character inserts 29 in the carriers v25.

The speed of travel of shutter 55 is controlled by a cooking and triggering mechanism 60 which is secured to the upper wall of cabinet 10. The mechanism operates in the same manner as the usual camera shutter and is ready for use when knob 61 is pulled outwardly from the cabinet so that spring loaded trigger 62 will move into detent 63. To activate shutter 55, itis necessary only to remove trigger 62 from detent 63, at which time the shutter will move downwardly past the carriers under the influence of the usual shutter biasing means.

The lamps 46 are controlled by switch 65 which is operated by means of a U-shaped operator 66 connected to shutter 55, the lower lip of the operator 66 energizing the lamp circuit when the shutter is rraised to its cocked position and the upper lip of the operator 66 deenergizing rthe lamp circuit after the apertures 56 have passed the upper character inserts 29. The distance between the upper and lower lips is suicient to enable the light source to remain on until the images have been projected onto screen 15.

In those cases Where an instructor is operating the device in conjunction with a student, he may desire to set the carriers 25 to particular characters. When the operator bar 35 is pushed toits innermost POSOH, U1@

rack portions 38 are disengaged from the gears 30, and the knob 40 is provided with opposed lingers 70 which enter into appropriate grooves vwithin locking bolt 71 to maintain the bar in this disengaged position. The lingers 70 can be engaged within the bolt merely by turning the knob after it has been depressed, and after the carriers are free the operator may turn the outer carriers by hand until he obtains the particular character desired, the characters on the inner and outer vcarriers coinciding in position.

Since at this time the. carriers are freely rotatable, additional structure is provided toV insure that the carriers can be retained in their adjusted positions. This mechanism, indicated at 75, comprises a guide 76 which is attached to base plate 22, as shown in Fig. 4. The guide contains an elongated locking bar 77 having a plurality of spring-like tangs 78 which are movable into contact with positioning detents `80 formed in the outer periphery of each of the carriers 25. The bar 77 is elevated to engage the tangs 78 with positioning detents 80 by means of bar 81 which has upstanding cams 82 situated to engage similar cams 83 on the bar 77 and to cause it to ride upwardly within guide 76. The stop pin 85 extends through bar 81 to limit the outward movement of the bar so that it will not be accidentally withdrawn from the cabinet 10. Thus with the tangs 78 engagingy the detents 80, the carriers 25 can be rotated in positive steps limiting the free rotation of the carriers. p

Thus with the present optical training device it is possible to change all of the characters simultaneously to obtain non-repetitive groups of characters, or the charac ters can be individually selected to meet a particular demand. Also one or more of the inner carriers 25 can be removed, or the lamps 46 can be selectively taken out of the energizing circuit, as by means such as individual switch-controlled parallel `connections in the circuit, so that the total number of images flashed on screen 15 can be controlled as desired. This providesva simple means for varying the eiective length of the words and phrases being projected, and obviously this result can be further aided by increasing the overall length of the apparatus in order to accommodate additional character carriers.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is delined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. An optical training device for viewing changeable character groupings yto improve visual perception and mental retention comprising, a housing having rear andI walls, a screen mounted in the front wall of said housing, a group of carrier plates extending parallel to the wide dimension of said housing, said carrier plates being mounted on separate rotatable shafts mounted;at right angles to said plates, a plurality of character containing inserts having dilerential light transmitting properties mounted on each of said carrier plates, means for rotating al1 of said carrier plates simultaneously to present in random order characters on each of said carrier plates to a viewing position, changed character groupings being achieved through the random presentment of said characters following each rotation of said carrier plates, a light source supported within said housing, means conducting the light from'said source through said characters following each rotation of said carrier images onto said screen following transillumination of said inserts, and means providing for viewing of each character image grouping for predetermined timed intervals.

2. An optical training device for viewing changeable character groupings to improve visual perceptionand men'tal retention comprising, a housingv havinga 'rear wall .and an apertured front wall, a screen closingy the aperture in the front wall of said housing, a group of carrier plates contained and extending parallel to the wlde dimension of said housing, said carrier plates being mounted on separate rotatable shafts mounted at right angles to the plane containing said plates, a plurality of character containing inserts having differential light transmitting properties mounted on each of said carrier plates, a gear secured to each of said shafts between the rear wall of said housing and the rear side of said carrier plates, an operator bar extending parallel to said carrier plates and having rack portions spaced along the length thereof for engagement with said gears, said operator bar extending through one wall of said housing for reciprocating movement to elect rotation of all of said carrier plates simultaneously and present in random order a character on each of said carrier plates to the operating position, a light source positioned within .said housing, lens means for transmitting light from said light source through said character inserts and projecting character images onto said screen, and shutter means providing for viewing of said character grouping for predetermined timed intervals.

3. An optical training device for viewing changeable character groupings to improve visual perception and mental retention comprising, a housing having front and rear walls, a screen mounted in the front wall of said housing, a group of carrier plates extending parallel to the wide dimension of said housing, said carrier plate's being mounted on separate rotatable shafts extending at right angles to said plates, a plurality of character bearing inserts having diterential light transmitting properties mounted on each of said carrier plates, a gear secured to each of said shafts between the rear walls of said housing and the rear side of said carrier plates, an operator bar extending parallel to said carrier plates and having rack portions spaced along the length thereof for engagement with said gears, said operator bar extending through one wall of said housing for reciprocating movement to effect rotation of all of said carrier plates simultaneously and present in random order a character on each of said carrier plates to the operating position, a light source mounted between the rear wall of said housing and each of said carrier plates, lens means mounted on each side of said carrier plates receiving ligh from said light source for transilluminating said inserts and projecting character images upon said screen, a shutter supported for vertical movement between said carrier plates and said screen, and means operating said shutter providing for viewing of said character images for predetermined timed intervals.

4. An optical training device for viewing changeable character groupings to improve visual perception and mental retentio-n comprising, a housing having front and rear walls, a first group of carrier plates within said housing extending parallel to the wide dimension thereof, said carrier plates being mounted on separate rotatable shafts extending at right angles to said plates through the rear wall of said housing, a second group of carrier plates mounted on said shafts outside of said housing and adjacent the rear wall thereof, a plurality of character containing inserts having differential light transmitting properties mounted on each of said inner carrier plates, characters on each of said outer carrier plates corresponding to and axially aligned with said characters borne by said inserts, each of said carrier plates within said housing being rotatable to move selected. characters to the operating position through rotation of the said corresponding carrier plate outside of said housing, illuminating means lighting said characters occupying the operating positions, and means providing for viewing of said character grouping for predetermined timed intervals.

5. An optical training device forviewing changeable character groupings to improve visual perception and mental retention comprising, a housing having front and rear walls, a rst group of carrier plates within said housing extending parallel to the wide dimension thereof, said carrier plates being mounted on separate rotatable shafts extending at right angles to said plates through the rear wall of said housing, a second group of carrier plates mounted on said shafts outside of said housing and adjacent the rear wall thereof, a plurality of character containing inserts having diierential light transmitting properties mounted on each of said inner carrier plates, characters on each of said outer carrier plates corresponding to and axially aligned with the characters borne by said inserts, means for rotating all of said carrier plates simultaneously to present in random order a character on each of said carrier plates to a viewing position, changed character groupings being achieved through the random presentment of said characters following each rotation of said carrier plates, illuminating means lighting said characters occupying the viewing positions, and means providing for viewing of said character grouping for predetermined timed intervals.

6. An optical training device for viewing changeable character groupings to improve visual perception and mental retention comprising, a housing having front and rear walls, a first group of carrier plates within said housing extending parallel to the wide dimension thereof, said carrier plates being mounted on separate rotatable shafts extending at right angles to said plates through the rear wall of said housing, a second group of carrier plates mounted on said shafts outside of said housing and adjacent the rear wall thereof, a plurality of character containing inserts having differential light transmitting properties mounted on each of said inner carrier plates, characters on each of said outer carrier plates corresponding to and axially aligned with said characters borne by said inserts, each of said inner carrier plates being rotatable to move selected characters to the viewing position through rotation of the said corresponding carrier plate outside of said housing, locking means engaging the outer surface of each of said inner carrier plates providing steplike rotary movement thereof to lock each character firmly in operating position, illuminating means lighting said characters occupying the operating positions, and means providing for viewing of said character grouping for predetermined timed intervals.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 451,956 Sanderson May 12, 1891 1,992,776 Schindler Feb. 26, 1935 2,493,477 De Bann Jan. 3, 1950 2,499,323 McCash Feb. 28, 1950 2,647,329 Bloch et al. Aug. 4, 1953 2,769,260 Fenwick Nov. 6, 1956 2,795,058 Kavanaugh June 11, 1957 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No., 2,875,530 March 3, l959 Thomas B. Sharkey `It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of' the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters .Patent should read as corrected below.

Column l, lines l9 and 2O,I for "readings devices" read reading devices y-15 column A, line 67, for "characters following each rotation of said carrier" read character bearing inserts and projecting character column 5 line 45, for l'ligh" read light Signed and sealed this 16th day of June 1959.

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL H AXLINE y ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

